501 The Fearing Mind
by MikePilotsChamber
Summary: Update 160204! Chapters 1-14 now up! First in my virtual season 5, PG13 just in case. Are John and Aeryn dead? Why did the alien creature blast them? And who will be left alive at the end of it all?
1. Previously on Farscape

"Fear" (provisional title) by Mike@PilotsChamber  
------  
  
Please note - this is rated PG13 just in case.  
  
I own none of the Farscape characters (though I wish I did) and this story is entirely fictitious and all the standard stuff.  
  
I'm writing this hopefully to be episode-length, taking off from the ending of the fourth season.  
  
By the way, this is my first fan-fic. Hope you enjoy it.  
  
-----------------------------------------------------  
Previously on Farscape  
------  
  
"Simpletons." Rygel said, watching the scene out of Moya's main viewport. The blind Chiana turned in his direction, judging from the noise, and made a curious sound. "Crichton's got Aeryn in a boat."  
  
"What's he doing?" Chiana asked.  
  
------  
  
It was a miracle. A true miracle, John thought. They had managed to avoid Peacekeepers, Scarrens, Sheyangs, Nebari, everything up until now.  
  
Of course they'd lost some lives along the way. Zhaan, Crais, Talyn, Elack... he had even killed Aeryn at one point, no thanks to the neural clone Scorpius implanted in his skull.  
  
But they were alive. And now, had enough time for a break.  
  
John had managed to close the wormhole to Earth. The Scarrens weren't a threat - at least not for a while.  
  
But with that, John couldn't go back to Earth. Or if he did, it'd take a long time.  
  
But then, he'd just have to concentrate on building a home out here.  
  
Moya was his home at the moment. A pretty strange home, one that moved on it's own accord. Sorta like living in a runaway Winnebago, he thought. But Moya was injured, resting in the ocean, Pilot integrating himself again into her circuits.  
  
But there were some things to talk about.  
  
So he had managed to dig out a boat from all the crap they had brought back from Earth. Well, more rather it was a kit boat. The DRDs, headed by 1812, had managed to build it in less than five minutes, using quick-drying adhesive to put everything together.  
  
John had worried that Aeryn wouldn't accompany him - she had told him when they landed on Qujaga that she couldn't swim, having been bred a normal Peacekeeper life aboard a Command Carrier. But nevertheless, she accompanied him as he rowed out in the boat, a fair distance from the resting Moya.  
  
And they were finally alone.  
  
Sitting on the other end of the thin boat, John talked first. "We have... some unfinished business."  
  
"Yes we have." Aeryn simply responded.  
  
"A year ago we let a coin make our decisions for us." he held up a coin.  
  
"Not again."  
  
"Call it."  
  
John flicked the coin up into the air. Aeryn's heart sank as she was reminded of the grief that they went through a year ago. The last time the toss ended up in their separation.  
  
Not this time.  
  
The coin plopped into the ocean and sank.  
  
John turned back to her. "Aeryn, I have a question."  
  
Aeryn was nearly crying. "Can I go first?"  
  
"Yeah."  
  
"When I was on the Command Carrier, I went to see a surgeon." she said, referring to the Command Carrier they were on at the negotiations at Katratzi. "I was really worried about what the Scarrens did to me."  
  
The rest of her words shocked John. "The fetus has been released from it's stasis."  
  
"So I'm having a baby." she said, biting back tears.  
  
"You OK?" John said, concerned. Aeryn nodded. John could see the pain on his face. "And the baby?"  
  
"It's yours."  
  
Several thoughts went through John's mind. He remembered the words his father had given to him many times - be your own kind of hero. He remembered all the past times he had helped Aeryn, how she had helped him, how they had grown together. His home was no longer Earth, it was here, with Aeryn, D'Argo, Chiana, Rygel, Moya, Pilot, Noranti, and the rest of their extended family.  
  
Plus one new addition - his and Aeryn's child.  
  
"I just wanted to tell you..." Aeryn continued. "I hope it doesn't change anything."  
  
John couldn't have been more happy if he'd tried, but he was still reeling with shock. His child. His and Aeryn's. "Well, it changes everything." he said, before standing and shouting at the sky "We're gonna have a baby!"  
  
Aeryn could only laugh and cry in joy as she watched John. She wasn't sure it was particularly safe for him to stand up in a boat, but John didn't seem to care. He shouted at the sky for all that he was worth, giving it several whoops and yeah's, various things she'd heard on Earth, and even telling it to screw itself at one point.  
  
Watching from Moya, the blind Chiana asked what was going on. D'Argo couldn't tell whether he had heard John's loud yells. "Now John seems very, very angry." he replied.  
  
Aeryn finally persuaded John to sit down. He still wore a childish grin on his face. "Are you happy?" she asked him. John was more laughing and out of breath than anything. "Now what was your question?"  
  
"Oh God, um..." John said. He reached into a pocket. Aeryn didn't see what he got from it. Then he got down on his knees infront of her.  
  
D'Argo was trying to help Chiana as much as possible. "Now he's got down onto his knees." he said, observing.  
  
"Why?" Chiana asked.  
  
"I think he's hurt himself." Rygel said, a hint of amusement in his voice.  
  
Back on the boat, John presented Aeryn with a ring. The ring that his sister Olivia had given to him. It used to be his mothers.  
  
"Will you marry me?" he asked her.  
  
Aeryn was struggling to bite back the tears. "Yes." she answered, and the two embraced.  
  
"What's he doing?" Chiana asked, back on Moya.  
  
Rygel was getting impatient with Chiana - would she constantly need this sort of attention? Still, best to get it out of the way now, then you can at least say you've done your bit. "Er... the boat's sinking." he said.  
  
John pulled the ring out of it's box and set the box down. Then he slipped it onto Aeryn's finger, and kissed it.  
  
D'Argo commentated on the scene. "He's putting some sort of... what looks like a ring on her finger."  
  
"A ring?" Chiana asked, curious.  
  
"A - a ring."  
  
Chiana started giggling. "You frellniks! Didn't you watch any of those - those those those those Earth movies?" she said, trying to remember names. "Crichton just proposed."  
  
"Proposed?" Rygel was interested now. "What?"  
  
"Marriage."  
  
Rygel practically spat the words as he floated away. "Marriage? Idiot! Augh!"  
  
Back on the boat, John and Aeryn were entwined in an embrace neither of them hoped would ever end, but a roar from the heavens brought them out of their reverie and made them look upwards.  
  
Above them a ship streaked down, passing over the boat and Moya, a dark ship with no familiar markings but the odd shape of a bat, John thought.  
  
Over the comms the two of them could hear D'Argo yelling for them to get back inside Moya. "D'Argo, do you know what it is?" Aeryn practically shouted, even though she knew he could hear her over the comms. John was already reaching for the ores to row the boat back with.  
  
"I have no idea whatsoever, now just get back inside!" D'Argo yelled through the comms.  
  
"Give me a break, we're in a boat!" John yelled, making slow progress back to Moya.  
  
------  
  
In the ship, a humanoid-looking creature talked. "Tracking scats were correct. A Leviathan partially submerged. Two invaders have exited their ship. Request orders."  
  
"Do you have target aquisition?" an unseen voice asked.  
  
The being's face split, revealing a mutilation of organs and eyes. "Positive. I detect no arnaments."  
  
"Neutralise invaders for analysis." the unseen voice said.  
  
"Acknowledged." the being said in affirmative. "Neutralisation run beginning."  
  
------  
  
"Hatch doors are open!" D'Argo was yelling over the comms. "Hurry up!"  
  
But there was no time. The ship was streaking ever closer. John and Aeryn both knew that, if the ship wanted to kill them, they'd have no chance. Each took the other in their arms.  
  
"You and your timing." Aeryn said, letting out a humourous sigh. This man was a plague. Whenever he was around, all the bad things happened.  
  
Yet she loved him.  
  
"I love you." John said, reading her expression.  
  
The two kissed, enjoying what could be their final embrace, as the ship flew down low over the peaceful, endless azure ocean, and let fly with two bursts of weaponry.  
  
They both hit their targets.  
  
------  
  
Watching from Moya, D'Argo could only howl as he watched the situation. John and Aeryn had been covered in what appeared to be a transparent film, and then turned into tiny pebbles as the ship flew off, leaving nothing but the scattered pebbles and the ring.  
  
He howled, crying, grief-stricken. John and Aeryn finally had everything, but had it cruelly snatched away from them. Chiana, not understanding what was going on, pulled his head to her shoulder.  
  
Perhaps it was a good thing now she was blind, D'Argo thought.  
  
But in the background, from his limited knowledge of Earth, D'Argo could have sworn he heard a piano playing...  
  
--------------------------------------------------  
  
Okay, that was what was in the last episode (Bad Timing), I know. But still, I wanted to put that in. 


	2. We're So Screwed Again

"Fear" (provisional title) by Mike@PilotsChamber  
------  
  
Please note - this is rated PG13 just in case.  
  
I own none of the Farscape characters (though I wish I did) and this story is entirely fictitious and all the standard stuff.  
  
I'm writing this hopefully to be episode-length, taking off from the ending of the fourth season.  
  
By the way, this is my first fan-fic. Hope you enjoy it.  
  
-----------------------------------------------------  
Chapter 1 - We're So Screwed (again)  
------  
  
John didn't know how it had all happened, but it had.  
  
Thank God for miracles.  
  
Everything was fine, somehow. That's a new one. Since when did that happen?  
  
He and Aeryn had returned to Earth, where Aeryn had delivered their child, a boy. Moya had recovered, along with Pilot being bound once again to her systems, and they were having the time of their lives ferrying scientists all over the nearby universe.  
  
John remembered that it was his dad, Jack, who had the pleasure of being the first man to walk on Mars.  
  
D'Argo, Chiana, Rygel, Noranti and Stark had all popped along for the ride - Rygel mainly to get more Earth-food. Guido had an insatiable appetite for toffee-flavoured pop-corn, and Noranti kept calling it "cop-porn" despite John's numerous corrections. It was an in-joke.  
  
Chiana was recovering well from her blindness - it had been a year and she still didn't have perfect vision. But she and D'Argo were actually learning to drive together, something which also amused John no end.  
  
As for Stark, he was perpetually wandering. They had given him enough money to get along with, taught him enough English, and even leant Stark 1812 for a while to inject people with translator microbes so he could talk to them. He was on a spiritual quest, or so he claimed, to try and help any lost souls on Earth cross over.  
  
Last John heard, he was at a gas station in the middle of the desert.  
  
Yep, everyone was here on Earth, having a great life. Bobby was enjoying having the aliens round 24/7, and kept saying how he was the coolest kid at school. John doubted that very much, but whatever made him happy...  
  
Jack was having a great time. As well as helping out around the aliens, taking scientific trips to all the nearby planets and star systems within Starburst range, he now had his son back, along with a grandson.  
  
The wedding had been utterly beautiful, John had remembered. It had taken them the better part of two days to ferry over family, friends and well-wishers over to Moya on transport pods, and make sure they were all injected with translator microbes, but they managed it. It had taken a week earlier to get all the decorations in place, including white tapestries along the corridors, flower arrangements, and John just had to ensure he and Aeryn had a water-bed for their honeymoon suite.  
  
The wedding had been held in Pilot's den. John wanted to thank him for what he had done to save Earth, and didn't want him to miss out. They had constructed a dismantable floor over the gaps in his den, and a Priest had been brought up to marry John and Aeryn.  
  
And afterwards, food was served in the main command room, with dishes cooked by one of the finest chefs on Earth, and a few by Noranti as well. John was actually quite amazed by how many people dared to try Noranti's cooking, but also by how many people liked her off-world stews. Moya seemed vibrant with life as many of John's younger relatives ran round the ship, playing hide-and-seek in the many corridors. Pilot had spent a great deal of time assigning DRDs to watch them all, but despite this was having the time of his life looking after them.  
  
Yep, things couldn't be better.  
  
Right now, John and Aeryn had just come back from a huge honeymoon. They had travelled the globe, seeing the Grand Canyon, done a little shopping in New York, seen the sights of Europe, stayed in a beach house at a small coastal village in the Bahamas, gone on Safari in Africa, and even had a picnic atop Ayers Rock in Australia. Then they had managed to make the journey to Arnessk to see Jool at the temple, along with D'Argo, Rygel, Noranti, Chiana, and even Jack and Bobby. During this time Aeryn gave birth while she and Rygel were trapped in a cave, and he had been the one to deliver the baby!  
  
John and Aeryn's son.  
  
Now, it was early evening. The sun was setting over Cape Canaveral, sending reflections over the lake and turning the sky a deep shade of orange. John and Aeryn were sat on the bonnet of John's new car, a Ford Mustang, arms round each other in front of the lake.  
  
"Any regrets so far?" John asked Aeryn.  
  
"You say that every day." she replied.  
  
"That's 'cos I wanna know. I want to know if there's anything I can do to make you any happier."  
  
Aeryn turned to him. "I don't think I can get any happier." she said, kissing him.  
  
From behind, John could hear his father, Jack. "Nearly your bedtime J.T. Wanna hear a story?"  
  
John almost laughed. "Dad, he's barely three months old. He's too young for your stories."  
  
Jack looked up from his grandson as he pushed the pram behind the car. "Oh, I told you loads of stories when you were his age, son." he said. "I can't believe I've become a father again."  
  
"Grand - you've become a Grandfather, dad." John replied, a grin on his face.  
  
"What's the difference?" Jack said. "Only one I see is that I don't have to change the diapers this time round - I just pass him to you."  
  
John laughed and turned back to Aeryn. "Did you imagine this in your life?" he asked.  
  
"No." she replied and sighed, a grin on her face. "Where did it all go wrong?"  
  
"Huh? What'cha talking about, missy?" John gave her a sassed look.  
  
"Oh, I was supposed to be a big PK brute, remember?" she said. "I was supposed to be dominating all those lesser life-forms, flying all over the place shooting things."  
  
John whispered in her ear. "You can dominate me later tonight if you want." Aeryn just laughed.  
  
A roar began though, barely audible. It increased though until it was filling the sky, drowning out the noise of the crickets and the waves of the lake, causing John, Aeryn and Jack to look up.  
  
Scarren Strikers. At least ten of them, streaking down towards Cape Canaveral. One blasted the IASA shuttle on the platform, destroying it in a huge explosion and a plume of smoke. The others scattered in all directions.  
  
One of them dived down towards the onlookers, letting loose a volley. It destroyed Jack and J.T. in one blast, and then turned back towards John and Aeryn, letting rip with another volley.  
  
Both of them knew they couldn't escape.  
  
------  
  
So this is what death must really be like, John thought. A huge pain in the head, total blackness.  
  
He tried opening his eyes, but couldn't make anything out. He saw shapes, vaguely human-looking, in a drab, grey room. He was on a chair, restraints around him.  
  
"Still nothing of importance so far." he made out one of the voices. "This one seems to indicate concern for the other, along with a planet."  
  
"What of the other?" another voice asked.  
  
"Interrogation has had to be delayed due to her pregnancy." the voice continued. "We must stabilise both mother and child before beginning, or risk losing both."  
  
"Such delay is dangerous. Continue the interrogation with this one."  
  
"Affirmative."  
  
John heard the sound of a machine being worked, and finally a lever being pulled. The pain intensified in his head.  
  
John yelled as he blacked out.  
  
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OK, so what are we reckoning so far? Good/not good? Please read and review! 


	3. That Good Old Luxan Hyperrage

"Fear" (provisional title) by Mike@PilotsChamber  
------  
  
Please note - this is rated PG13 just in case.  
  
I own none of the Farscape characters (though I wish I did) and this story is entirely fictitious and all the standard stuff.  
  
I'm writing this hopefully to be episode-length, taking off from the ending of the fourth season.  
  
By the way, this is my first fan-fic. Hope you enjoy it.  
  
-----------------------------------------------------  
Chapter 2 - Good old Luxan Hyper-rage  
------  
  
The terrace. It was odd that it wasn't used more often, D'Argo thought. It was simply a small area atop Moya that could be protected by an invisible bubble, allowing a person to come out and stare at the stars, even in the vacuum of space.  
  
Right now the bubble had disappeared. Moya was still healing her wounds in Qujaga sea, Pilot barely conscious.  
  
And the crew needed to heal their own wounds.  
  
It had been a day since John and Aeryn had been cruelly snatched away from them. Two lives in their prime, and one not even begun. None of them had been able to sleep at all during the night.  
  
D'Argo remembered that Rygel had taken it upon himself to console the semi-conscious Pilot and Moya. Pilot could do little but listen, Rygel had informed him, and had seen tears roll from his eyes.  
  
Pilot was still healing, recollecting fluids and nutrients, yet was still able to spare tears for his comrades...  
  
Noranti had collected as many of the pebbles left from the attack as possible, and had feverishly analyzed them all night, yet come up with nothing. Between experiments, she babbled about how the pebbles contained bits of John and Aeryn's DNA, but it was largely other materials.  
  
Stark had shut himself off from the others. John had been the one to free him from Scorpius, and a debt was owed there, but D'Argo didn't imagine that Stark would be the sort to be bothered about debts. He had noticed though, around the time of Zhaan's death, Stark had hovered around Aeryn a little, but nothing more. He could never believe that Aeryn would tolerate the Bannik much.  
  
As for D'Argo and Chiana, they had sat against a wall in the command all night, D'Argo holding Chiana close. Chiana was still blind, but that was the least of their worries right now. To her, John had been a father figure. Not a very good father figure, but a father figure nonetheless. And Aeryn had been a close friend, closer than Jool and Sikozu would have been, though that wouldn't have been difficult.  
  
And to D'Argo, they were fellow warriors-in-arms.  
  
And now they were going to bury them.  
  
Rygel had suggested scattering the pebbles to the ocean winds, but Noranti had strongly disapproved. She wanted to keep them, adament that they held the answer to what happened.  
  
So they had collected some of their belongings from their chambers to symbolise the two fallen comrades. For John, they collected his television set from Earth, one of his tape recorders (he brought a fair few back) and a pair of Levi Jeans. And for Aeryn, one of her pulse pistols, a red dress, and one of the books she had bought to help her learn English.  
  
For their unborn baby there were no items to collect though, so D'Argo had donated his Tokar knife in place, a memory of his childhood.  
  
And so they stood on the Terrace, the cool ocean breeze against their faces, D'Argo, Chiana, Rygel, Noranti and Stark. In front of them lay the possessions to be cast off.  
  
With Zhaan having passed on as well, Stark had taken it upon himself to conduct a brief ceremony. He came forwards and knelt infront of the possessions.  
  
"Our fallen friends," he began, "we are here today to honour your memories, and help you cast off your shackles to this world. May our words lighten your hearts and your burdens."  
  
Stark stood and backed off, allowing Noranti to come forward and speak her peace. "In the short time I have known these two strange people, they have been a constant comfort and allies. I shall never forget the jovial and tireless who-man John Crichton, nor the intelligent and caring Aeryn Sun. Whichever religion and afterlife you believe in, let you always be together."  
  
Noranti stepped back, and Rygel floated forwards on his thronesled. "My dear friends, we met under such difficult circumstances." he confessed. "Back in those early times Aeryn, there was not a microt I did not wish for your death. And indeed we did bury you, but you returned." He sighed. "I pray you return to us, but trying to escape death is often a fruitless gesture. Crichton, I have learned so much since I met you. I have learned that, though I still carry the title of a Dominar, it is people like you who I truly welcome at my side, not as an aide but as a friend. Both your lives were quests for survival, and for each other. At least in death, you have found peace."  
  
Rygel reached into his pocket and brought out two new comm badges and placed them in with the possessions, to symbolise their links to Moya and Pilot. Pilot spoke his peace through them, trying his best to maintain consciousness. "Moya and I have always enjoyed serving our passengers." he began. "Such is our nature, yet we have enjoyed our time with Crichton and Aeryn the most. The two of them brought us life and hope in every situation we encountered. Farewell, our friends."  
  
Rygel backed off, and Chiana came forward a few steps, still blind. "This - this is really frelled." she said through tears. "You guys were the draddest! Aeryn, I'm sorry for all the bad things I did. I'm sorry for telling everyone about the baby, and for wrecking your Prowler once, and going through your stuff a few times. You were the best friend I could ever hope for, and I'm still amazed you put up with me and didn't throw me out an - an an an airlock or something. Crichton - I love you Crichton. You always stuck up for me, and tried not to get me killed and stuff. Your world was amazing, and it was the draddest time I could ever have had. Thanks, guys."  
  
She backed off to D'Argo's side, and he came forward. "Where do I begin?" he said. "We've been through a lot, my friends. We became warriors-in-arms, and I always knew I could trust you both completely. You were always there for us all, and our little band of lost souls will be all the quieter without you. We owe our lives to you both several times over, but you were not only our protectors, but our companions and friends. Fate threw us together against our will, but now I cannot imagine greater comrades. Anything positive we do with the rest of our lives will be because of you. Take care, our friends."  
  
D'Argo remained where he was, and Stark came forwards. "It is with these words, and my own thoughts, that we lighten your souls to ease your passage into the next realm." he said. "With great sadness we shall miss you. May you find rest."  
  
And with this, D'Argo started to pick the possessions up and cast them off into the ocean, beginning with John's massive television set.  
  
------  
  
The small wake was a sombre affair. They all met in Pilot's den to talk and mourn. Pilot had nearly re-established his link to Moya enough to function, though they both knew it would take a cycle at least for the bonding to fully re-establish itself.  
  
Chiana was still blind, and relied on D'Argo enormously for comfort. The two of them were just about always together now, not trying to hide the fact that they were back together.  
  
Noranti was taking a break from her experiments, comforting Pilot and Moya. Stark had vainly been trying to detect the presence of John and Aeryn's souls, but to no avail. His skills in that department, though incredible to other beings and other species, were only capable of detecting larger fluctuations in the amounts of death. The death of two, even with an unborn child, was still only a tiny drop in an ocean.  
  
Rygel had been permanently nibbling on the small dishes they had created for the wake. He didn't feel like saying anything, and was quite reserved.  
  
D'Argo meanwhile, was alone with his thoughts.  
  
He was quite disturbed with how his thoughts had gone recently. He was the captain of Moya, after all. He had his responsibilities, not just to Moya, but to all those that travel in her.  
  
A nagging part of his mind kept trying to tell him he'd let them all down, pin the blame on himself.  
  
Yet, John and Aeryn had done nothing. Their lives were a constant struggle, and just when they had found peace, they got shot in the back.  
  
And their unborn child had never been given the chance. Some cruel, vicious, unjust monster had slaughtered them all, with no remorse, had just snatched all that they had worked so hard for away, probably smiling as it did it.  
  
Innocently, he asked "How long have we got before Moya is well enough to leave?"  
  
Noranti replied. "I would not risk moving Moya for at least another day yet."  
  
"Good." D'Argo replied, raising himself to his feet. Chiana was knocked a bit by his sudden-ness. "Because I have to find someone."  
  
"Who?" Chiana asked.  
  
"John and Aeryn's killer."  
  
------  
  
Chiana vainly tried to follow D'Argo round Moya's passages - she knew them quite well, but kept bumping into walls. Still, she couldn't keep up with the maddenned Luxan.  
  
"D'Argo, don't be fahrbot." she said, bumping into a wall. She could hear that D'Argo was easily a few paces ahead of her. "You'll get yourself killed. This won't bring them back!"  
  
"I have to at least find out why." he growled back.  
  
"You saw what they did, D'Argo. They got turned into pebbles. Dusted. No chance. And... and I can't let that happen to you."  
  
"It won't!" he practically shouted back. "Whatever did this, I'll kick it's mivonks so much it spits them out through it's mouth!"  
  
"D'Argo, I don't know that." Chiana replied. "Please, I don't want to lose you. Not again."  
  
D'Argo stopped. "Chiana, I must do this." he said, his voice having lost it's rage.  
  
"Then take me with you."  
  
D'Argo turned, walking towards Chiana, and embraced her into a kiss.  
  
Then Chiana fell to the floor, unconscious.  
  
"Sorry..." D'Argo said, walking away. "But I can't risk losing you either."  
  
And as he walked off to Lo'la, D'Argo wondered whether that was what the humans meant by "tonguing".  
  
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Everything is going according to plan... excellent... 


	4. The Cavalry

"Fear" (provisional title) by Mike@PilotsChamber  
  
------  
  
Please note - this is rated PG13 just in case.  
  
I own none of the Farscape characters (though I wish I did) and this story is entirely fictitious and all the standard stuff.  
  
I'm writing this hopefully to be episode-length, taking off from the ending of the fourth season.  
  
By the way, this is my first fan-fic. Hope you enjoy it.  
  
-----------------------------------------------------  
  
Chapter 3 - The Cavalry  
  
------  
  
The thoughts of the human managed to collect themselves. This human had been through a lot. Life. Death. He'd done it all, at one point or another.  
  
Somewhere there was a key point - something to anchor the thoughts to. A name - that was it. If only he could remember his name, his thoughts would be able to connect and operate the shell that was known as a body.  
  
It was James something...  
  
Or Jonathan...  
  
Or John...  
  
John something...  
  
John Kryten? Nope, but nearly. Just a spelling mismatch, mixed up with a character from somewhere else.  
  
John Crichton. Yep, that was it. John Crichton. Astronaut. Shot through a wormhole. Bit of an unlucky sod really. Lost in God knows where with a bunch of escaping prisoners, convicts and exiles. But things had taken a turn for the better. He had fallen in love, a baby was due, and he'd found his place in the universe.  
  
Or so he thought.  
  
The thoughts of John Crichton managed to find his body. Everything was wrong. He tried to move his arm, and ended up moving his jaw. Perhaps it was because he was so groggy. His thoughts quickly shifted round, got used to his body again.  
  
And opened his eyes.  
  
The first thing John Crichton noticed where the grey, tall, muscular, imposing forms around him.  
  
Scarrens.  
  
Lots of Scarrens. Particularly those with heads shaped like horse heads, John thought. Lots of functionaries, lower-order Scarrens.  
  
He looked around a bit more, not recognising the area. He was restrained to a wall, held up against it at ninety degrees. Unfamiliar machinary around him, and a smell of efficiency, the humming and beeping of various computers and consoles, all planned for one purpose.  
  
Destruction.  
  
The room appeared to be a large, semi-circular dome. All around was glass, giving a view of open space, and a single planet.  
  
Earth.  
  
"A magnificent sight, isn't it Crichton?" John heard a voice, and turned his head to his left. Fortunately the restraints still allowed free movement of his head.  
  
He saw a huge figure, the head ridged, and body set in large red armour. John recognised him as Emperor Staleek.  
  
"You..." John managed to gasp. His body was still not used to itself yet, and he drooled and spat slightly. "You..."  
  
"Yes, me." Staleek said. "And the rest of us." He gestured to his side, where the Scarren Minister Ahknar stood. John could never help laughing at her, as her hat was the more imposing feature of her.  
  
But John did not laugh this time.  
  
"What... what are you doing... to my home?" John managed to ask.  
  
"Why, cultivating it." Staleek replied. "Or at least we will do. Soon. You know, we really have to thank you Crichton, for so much. Though you destroyed the Matriarch flower on Katratzi, you allowed us access to wormhole technology."  
  
"How..." John began to ask, but Ahknar cut him off.  
  
"Ka D'Argo's vessel contained logs and coordinates to the wormhole to Earth." she said. "As for yourself, we found out enough during our interrogations."  
  
"What..." John said, but he managed to remember. He remembered interrogations, drugs administered by Ahknar herself in a masochistic orgy. She had enjoyed every minute of watching Crichton's pain. Sweat was pouring down his face, and he spat with every word. A side effect of a Scarren drug, he decided.  
  
"Hello John." a new voice said.  
  
John looked around. All the Scarrens seemed to be frozen in their place. Nothing at all moved.  
  
Bar one figure, clad in a black, seemingly leather material.  
  
"Harvey!" John felt as if he shouted the name, but the words were barely audible. "Harvey, what's going on?"  
  
"I don't know John." Harvey replied, direct and to the point. "This should not be happening."  
  
"You're telling me."  
  
"No, I mean it should not be happening, because none of the events to lead up to this has occurred. I live inside your subconscious remember, and none of this happened! Returning to Earth for the wedding, the Scarren invasion, the interrogations - none of it! This all seems to be the crackpot ideas of another force wanting to make you afraid, John!"  
  
"Harv, it's real..." John gasped. "Real... they re-opened the wormhole to Earth and -"  
  
"Re-opened! Ha! John, you collapsed the wormhole in on itself, you saw it vanish, and the wave you saw as you exited it will have been it's energy being blown apart by it's own destruction! Nobody can re-open a wormhole once it is dead!"  
  
"But they can be directed..."  
  
"Oh they can be directed certainly!" Harvey said. "Your other self knew this when he destroyed a Scarren dreadnaught! But to be able to target Earth so precisely would be nearly impossible, and that still does not explain the other abberations! It is as if your mind was planted with the memories of the wedding, the invasion and the interrogation! You're fortunate I was able to find your mind in this state!"  
  
"What do you mean?"  
  
"I mean, John, that it does not appear you are living these moments. Sure, your mind is experiencing them and they seem real to you, but this is not your body you are in now! Something is feeding you these moments!"  
  
"Who?" John asked, then selected a more pertinent question. "Why?"  
  
Harvey sighed. "I don't know John..." he said. "The last moment I can remember before this occurance was on Qujaga, and I have never encountered an interrogation method such as this."  
  
John looked around from his restraints. He could see that the Scarrens had shifted in their positions slightly. "They've moved..." John said.  
  
"Yes, I know." Harvey replied. "I cannot stop time such as this. Remember, this is a state of mind. I merely hastened your thoughts. To them, you are moving absurdly fast, speaking to me. To us, we are moving immensely slow. This is yet another proof that this is all taking place inside your mind."  
  
"Okay..." John said. "Got any advice."  
  
"Since this method of interrogation - if it is that - relies on fear, you must try not to fear. As convincing as any of these shams are, remember that they are indeed just a sham. Remember - your enemy will find what it is you most fear, because that is often the most important thing to you. And then they will use it against you."  
  
"And where will you be?" John asked.  
  
"Watching, and waiting to offer advice." Harvey said. "I must go now, they will notice you talking and get suspicious if we carry on any longer."  
  
With that, the Scarrens returned to normal speed. John looked around to see that Harvey had indeed vanished.  
  
"With your planet able to support the Crystifirium plant so well..." Staleek said, as if nothing had happened. "We shall purge it of all sentient life for the good of the Scarren Empire, then turn the whole planet into a complex for growing the Crystifirium plant, resulting in the dominance of the Scarren Empire."  
  
"Speaking of cultivation..." Ahknar said, "they're going to be arriving in just a moment."  
  
The whole room began to turn, and John figured out that he must be on a Scarren dreadnaught - one that was doing a one-eighty to turn away from planet Earth.  
  
When it stopped, John could see two familiar vessels... Moya and Lo'la. Moya was stuck in space in front of the dreadnaught, nowhere to go, and D'Argo in Lo'la was trying his best to protect her from a small fleet of three Scarren strikers, to little avail.  
  
A smirk appeared on Staleek's face, and he opened his hand in front of John, revealing John's comms badge linking him to the rest of Moya's crew.  
  
"Yours, I believe?" Staleek said.  
  
A chirrup came from the comms, and Pilot's voice could be heard. "Crichton, if you can hear us, please help! We urgently require assistance!"  
  
"Cut him down!" Staleek ordered. Two Scarren underlings cut John's restraints and he fell to the floor, managing to pull himself up.  
  
Staleek looked around. "Do we have target aquisition on the Leviathan and the Ancient Luxan vessel?"  
  
"Affirmative, Emperor." a Scarren replied from a nearby console.  
  
Staleek reached over to a console, and handed John a pulse pistol.  
  
"Winona, I believe it's called..." Staleek said. John was barely paying attention, concerned over the voices from his comms badge. Moya was now immobile, and Lo'la was barely making any ground in the fight against the strikers.  
  
"You can end this John..." Staleek said to the terrified human. Staleek signalled towards the Scarren who had announced target acquisition from a nearby console. "You see that Scarren? He is at the targeting console. You have ten microts."  
  
John did not hesitate. He got up and aimed at the Scarren's head, shot as many rounds into the grotesque creature as he could. Sparks flew off the Scarren's body, as well as some smoke and scorch marks.  
  
Winona clicked, out of ammunition.  
  
The Scarren was still standing, slightly scratched but barely fazed. It pressed a button on the console, and John saw two huge green pulses emanate from below the bridge, hitting Moya and Lo'la.  
  
Both vessels instantly blew into pieces. Over the comms John could hear Pilot's final words - "Commander! Comman-"  
  
John fell to his knees.  
  
Ahknar bent down beside the hopeless human, and whispered in his ear. "You should have shot the console."  
  
"Now that that is over with..." Staleek announced in a grand voice, as if making a public speech, "Let us take this moment to welcome in a new era in the Scarren Empire, and thank the human John Crichton for his valiant scientific breakthroughts. If it were not for him, the technology to create and manipulate wormholes would still be a distant dream! Canak to John Crichton!"  
  
"Canak!" all the Scarrens in the room roared, their fists in the air.  
  
"This can't be happening..." John said, tears rolling down his cheeks.  
  
"Oh but it is..." Ahknar hissed in his ear. "Wouldn't it have been so much better for your shipmates and your pathetic planet if you'd have just done something so easy... as die?"  
  
And John had to admit to himself - she was right. The lives of billions were about to be curtailed, because of him.  
  
Staleek continued his short speech. "And now let us welcome those tireless souls who shall re-model this world for the good of the Scarren Empire!"  
  
With that, there was a flash of blue from outside the dreadnaught. John saw it then.  
  
A wormhole, opening in space. A stable wormhole.  
  
After a few seconds, a Scarren dreadnaught appeared, and another, and another... John counted twenty dreadnaughts appearing through the wormhole, before it finally closed two minutes later. To John it seemed like an age.  
  
Harvey's words had gone right out of John's memory. It didn't matter that this could all be fake. It looked too real, and it was his worst fear finally being fulfilled.  
  
Staleek slapped John on the back. "Congratulations John!" he said, as if John was a brother to him. "Your wormhole technology works! This is, after all, your knowledge at use!"  
  
And Staleek was right. This was John's knowledge. He could do this. He knew it.  
  
All of it.  
  
"Stop the interrogation!" a voice announced. John managed to hear it - it sounded like a voice with a natural, deep roar, and as if the speaker was breathing in at the same time.  
  
Then everything went dark. There was total blackness, and John couldn't even see himself. There was a huge feeling of tiredness, of wanting to sleep. There was nothing John could do - he drifted off to a fitfull sleep.  
  
He just managed to catch a few words before his mind drifted. "No need to bury any more. I think we have found what we need."  
  
-----------------------------------------------------------------  
  
Sorry it's been so long - uni coursework and stuff. But we're building up to the main part of the story now. 


	5. Can't Handle The Truth

5.01 - The Fearing Mind  
  
Chapter 5 - Can't Handle The Truth  
  
(11/6/04)  
  
=========  
  
Apologies for the wait for this one, plus for any lack of consistency of presentation - I've just formatted my PC so previous chapters have been lost.  
  
By the way, I am *hopefully* going to do a full 22 fan-fics, making up an entire virtual season. Let's hope, anyway.  
  
Also, sorry for perhaps confusing previous fans with the title change, and by saying chapter 5 was up when it wasn't. But in any case, here's chapter 5!  
  
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Chapter 5 - Can't Handle The Truth  
  
----------------------------------  
  
Unconscious again. Really must start doing something to stop that, John thought. Still, at least waking from this one was more peaceful than the last two times.  
  
Maybe he'd try and get some answers this time, thanks to Harvey clueing him in.  
  
But what? Was he to believe that everything since the boat had been a nightmare? A figment of his tortured imagination brought on by something else?  
  
And what if it started before the boat? His whole life since the Farscape experiment went down the crapper had been pretty much torture.  
  
Except for one thing.  
  
Aeryn.  
  
John wondered where she was. If she hadn't been part of his feverish imagination, then he should wake up, find her, make sure she was safe.  
  
And if she didn't really exist?  
  
Well, John would wake up anyway, and spend the rest of his sad insanity with a fictitious woman who he dreamed cared about him.  
  
Same as chatting over the Internet really, he thought.  
  
He gradually heard voices, gaining in volume as he slowly regained consciousness. They sounded more like they were breathing in rather than out as they spoke, a bizarre growling noise to their voices.  
  
John managed to regain his sense of touch, and identified that he was on a soft cushion surface of some sort. Nice. Finally, maybe not much torture this time round. Not even any restraints!  
  
His right hand was near his hip. He slowly moved it, felt for his pulse pistol, Winona.  
  
Gone.  
  
Whoever these guys were, John would make sure they regretted taking Winona.  
  
"The invader is coming to." John managed to make out from one of the voices. The next, slightly different, responded "I can see that."  
  
John opened his eyes, making out a grey, featureless room, except for one thing.  
  
A small but doubtlessly lethal gun emplacement on the ceiling, trained at his head.  
  
"Whoa..." John managed to gasp, waking. "What the hell was that?"  
  
"Restrain your tongue, invader!" he heard. "You are being monitored."  
  
John managed a smirk. "Hell, frell, hell, frell, you guys don't know what hell means do ya?" he laughed. "I bet you thought I said frell. I'll never understand the language of people out here, even with those little translator microbes."  
  
He managed to sit up and looked around. Looking up, he saw that the gun emplacement automatically tracked his head wherever he moved. He moved it from left to right, saw the gun follow suit.  
  
"Look at me, Invader John Crichton!" he heard from behind him. John turned his face to see... well, it looked fairly human, with some weird facial bone structure, wearing a suit that reminded him of ancient Roman soldiers from history class, and... a mullet?  
  
John had to laugh. "I've been captured..." he started, "by a guy with a mullet? The superbly evil Mullet Man?"  
  
"Silence, Invader!" Mullet Man roared, but John kept giggling. "We are known as Vwert."  
  
"Yeah, sure, Mullet Man." John giggled, then slowly stopped. "You said 'we'?"  
  
"Yes, we." another voice, slightly different, said from Mullet Man's direction. John could have sworn it was Mullet Man himself doing a very good ventriloquist act, but it wasn't. His lips didn't even move.  
  
Suddenly, Mullet Man's face split open along the middle and each of the two halves branched off to the side of the head. Inside was a mutilation of organs, but John could make out eyes looking at him from inside.  
  
"We are Vwert!" the voice said again. "And we know you are an Invader, John Crichton. We know what you can give us, and we know your weakness."  
  
John just stared. "Whoa... this is a new one." he said. "So... you have two brains or something, one operates the body and does a few little bits and bobs, and the other takes it easy?"  
  
"You do not remember us invader?" the voice continued. "Over a thousand cycles... is this a long time to you? It is not to us. We were known as the Sedum."  
  
"Sedum? No, doesn't ring a bell." John said. "Why do you keep calling me an invader anyway? Just who do you think I am?"  
  
"An invader!" Vwert said, but the inner-Vwert calmed him. "Your kind invaded our planet over a thousand cycles ago, destroyed us and condemned us to live here, in a small colony on the ocean floor. I believe you were called... Peacekeepers."  
  
"Peacekeepers?" John reeled. "You think I'm one of them? A Sebacean? I'm not - I'm human."  
  
"I have never heard of such a species."  
  
"Well, do a test on me. Analyse my DNA, test my blood, hell, measure little Johnny - I am not Sebacean, not Peacekeeper, and I can prove it."  
  
"We cannot." Vwert replied. "The Peacekeepers destroyed all our planet. We were once a land-bound species, enjoying good trade with local systems, yet we kept our planet's location a secret due to the abundance of minerals on the surface. However, you Peacekeepers took the minerals for yourselves, and ravaged our atmosphere. The oceans rose, and it was all we could do to build ourselves this colony, and a few atmosphere-bound vessels for protection. We have medical facilities, but none to scan other species, since we did not anticipate them."  
  
"You just let the Peacekeepers come in and chuck you in the water?" John asked.  
  
"To we Sedum, all life is precious, even that of our enemies." Vwert said. "We wanted to house as many of our species as possible, to protect them."  
  
John sighed. "Well, that's enough of the history lesson." he said. "Now, mind telling me what you did to me?"  
  
"Simple." Vwert said. "By invoking fear in you and witnessing the results, we were able to ascertain what you are most afraid of, the likelihood being we could use it to our advantage."  
  
"And what am I most afraid of?" John asked bluntly. "Spiders? The big bad wolf? Clowns?"  
  
"Wormholes."  
  
John got up off the surface he was lying on, and was about to punch Vwert. He hadn't noticed before that the creature was large, intimidating, and looked like he could take on Mike Tyson and win without breaking a sweat.  
  
But John had been in worse situations before.  
  
He heard a "zap" noise and saw a yellow bolt of light whizz past him, into the floor between him and Vwert. Looking down, he saw the laser's impact - a blackened patch of metal, smoldering away.  
  
"Okay..." John said. "That's a good laser."  
  
Vwert continued. "We have long been interested in wormholes." he said. "The one that opened near us, when we had capabilities for space travel. We were close to discovering the secret behind them, allowing us to travel vast distances. However, you Peacekeepers stopped all that, taking away our ability to monitor it."  
  
"And now what?" John said. "The wormhole is gone - I destroyed it."  
  
Vwert snorted. "While we cannot believe a word you say, Peacekeeper Invader, I can assure you that, with the correct information, we are capable of creating our own wormhole, and go through it. A relic from when we were a prosperous species allows for just the right amount of energy, and had been created for when the breakthrough would be made, and is capable of the energy required to create a wormhole, and has been modified to allow this colony to lift off through it."  
  
"And what do you want from me?"  
  
"The correct information." the inner-Vwert said. "Provide us with the final wormhole equations so we can find ourselves a more habitable planet so our species may prosper again. It is the least that you, as one of the ones who condemned us here in the first place, can do."  
  
John sighed. "And what if I'm not one of the ones who condemned you here?"  
  
"Then do it out of the goodness of your heart." Vwert replied. "Or maybe we should present another incentive?"  
  
Behind Vwert the wall seamlessly opened, and behind it was a seat with restraints, a figure in it.  
  
"Aeryn!" John ran over to her, hearing the gun emplacement track him but not caring. He put a hand to her cheek, felt her face. She was cold yet clammy, unconscious.  
  
He turned to Vwert, a primitive growl in his voice. "What have you done to her?"  
  
"She is of no use to us now, but we know you have feelings for her." the inner-Vwert replied. "And for the child as well."  
  
John resigned himself. "Okay, I'll help you." he said, knowing he would try and find a way to sabotage the wormhole work - he had no intention of giving it out. "What about the others? The ones on Moya?"  
  
"Moya?"  
  
"The Leviathan."  
  
"Leviathans are a peaceful species." Vwert said. "For them to be used to transport your kind is unacceptable."  
  
John looked puzzled. "Meaning?"  
  
"The Sedum have a moral code." Vwert said. "It is impossible for us to lie, even to one such as you. The Leviathan, Moya, is to be cleansed. All aboard are going to pay for their perversion of such a magnificent species, with their lives."  
  
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Now we're getting somewhere! Please keep checking for new chapters, and read & review! 


	6. Home Alone

5.01 - The Fearing Mind  
  
Chapter 6 - Home Alone  
  
(18/6/04)  
  
=========  
  
Alright, now we're moving into a higher gear - I'm hopefully going to get a chapter done every day or two, and the story moves forward a notch. And if you think this is good, just wait until you see what I've got planned for further "episodes"...  
  
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Chapter 6 - Home Alone  
  
----------------------------------  
  
All she could see was darkness. No shapes, no movement... absolutely nothing.  
  
Chiana feared her eyesight was never coming back, and it was driving her hysterical.  
  
Since D'Argo had left she had been worried sick. But at least it meant the Luxan still had his pride, one of his most redeeming factors, Chiana thought. She loathed him for hurting her as he left.  
  
But she still loved him. And she had done far worse herself. What had she been thinking, to have an affair with D'Argo's own son, Jo'thee? Had she not valued their love at all?  
  
And now she was lying on a bed in the medical bay, listening to things around her. Noranti was keeping herself busy analysing the pebbles left behind still, and Rygel and Stark had nothing better to do than try to help, and didn't particularly want to do anything else. Rygel had even said he didn't feel like eating.  
  
And Pilot... Pilot was the worst of them. As well as the deep emotional scars of losing John and Aeryn, in particular Aeryn, he still had to reconnect himself to Moya. In the meantime, Moya was still in shock and pain from the Scarren attack.  
  
All the same, Pilot assured them all that they would be able to lift off by the planet's next daybreak, or possibly midday at the worst.  
  
Noranti busied herself nearby. "You're lucky that other DRD... 1812, did John call it? Anyway, you're lucky it found you. I'd hate for you to come to while still blind. You'd be banging into walls everywhere!"  
  
"I can still take care of myself Wrinkles." Chiana retorted. Noranti suppressed a smirk. "I'm... I'm just blind. It's not a major affliction."  
  
"And if you remain blind?"  
  
Chiana felt she had to be strong, but did not feel strong anyway. "I'll make it. I've got D'Argo, and we've got that diagnosan that's near here. We'll go there, you'll see... you'll see... then I'll be fine."  
  
Noranti sighed. "You remain a tower of hope, child. Yet towers can easily crumble."  
  
"Zhaan was the same..." Chiana said. "You never met Zhaan, but when we were once separated from D'Argo, Aeryn and John, she started breaking down. Nearly... nearly condemned herself to death on a place called Litigara."  
  
"Hope can easily be quashed." Noranti replied. "But when it is fulfilled, that, my dear, is the essence of life itself."  
  
Chiana heard the familiar drone of Rygel's thronesled, and footsteps, indicating Stark was here as well. "Anything?" Stark asked Noranti.  
  
"No, same as before." Noranti sounded flustered.  
  
"Not even a small change?"  
  
"No."  
  
"Are you sure?"  
  
"Yes."  
  
"So, nothing new then?"  
  
"Correct!" Noranti snapped, then Chiana heard her footsteps carry on over to another worktable. "I've isolated that there are parts of Crichton and Aeryn in here, but it's all just skin and hairs. In fact, just about all of it is... well, I think it's molecules of this planet's atmosphere, but immensely compacted, and small parts of fibres from their clothes as well."  
  
"What does that mean?" Rygel asked. "Could that thing have fired something to pull gravity around them, crushing them and parts of the atmosphere together?"  
  
"I don't think so. If that had occurred, there would be far more pebbles."  
  
Chiana heard a faint fizzing sound, then Pilot's voice. "Pardon my intrusion..." he managed. He must still be under great strain, Chiana thought.  
  
"What is it Pilot?" she heard Noranti say.  
  
"With Moya's hatches open, we continue to provide life support." Pilot said. They all knew this - with Moya recovering, and on a planet with atmosphere, they had decided to leave her two landing hatches open, to provide a breathable atmosphere inside the Leviathan without requiring Moya to extend herself doing the same job.  
  
"Yes, and?" Rygel said, clearly impatient.  
  
Pilot continued. "Two ships appear to have landed."  
  
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=  
  
1812 watched the creatures emerge from the two sinister-looking ships. Given that it was not bound to Moya's DRD signal, it was allowed to do whatever it wished. While the other DRDs were bound to helping Moya recover from the attack and help her re-establish a connection with her Pilot, 1812 acted as an overseer, helping the other DRDs when necessary.  
  
But when Moya's Pilot had sent his communication through ship-wide comms and screens, 1812 had been able to pick it up, and had moved silently to the landing bay.  
  
Now, a figure emerged from each craft, each large, humanoid bipedal creatures with deep-set voices. Each carrying a device with a large metallic jaw that could open and close.  
  
"We have landed aboard the Leviathan." one said, presumably into a communicator, though 1812 detected no signals being sent. A voice could be heard emmitting from one of them, though it's lips did not move. "Excellent. Remember, all aboard must be killed, excepting the Pilot. Attack DRDs only if they pose a threat. And no damage must come to the Leviathan."  
  
"Understood." the creature said once again. Then the two figures knelt, as if in a religious prayer. "May the fates wish us well in our mission to liberate this magnificent Leviathan." they both said simoultaneously, before standing again and marching towards Moya's main areas.  
  
If DRDs could simulate emotions, 1812 would have been horrified. Though Moya was not it's natural home, having lost Elack, it had found refuge with Moya and still felt a need to protect her.  
  
1812 raced off to consult with the Pilot.  
  
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Now we're getting somewhere! Please keep checking for new chapters, and read & review! 


	7. Bridge Over Troubled Waters

5.01 - The Fearing Mind  
  
Chapter 7 - Bridge Over Troubled Waters  
  
(21/6/04)  
  
=========  
  
OK, so I won't be able to manage a chapter a day, but I'll try and do one as often as I can, which will probably mean two or three per week. In the meantime, I think this chapter is roughly one third of the way through this "episode".  
  
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Chapter 7 - Bridge Over Troubled Waters  
  
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"Rygel, keep up!" Noranti shouted behind her. "Unless you want to become food for these people!"  
  
"So long as it's good food, like cop porn." Rygel said. "We're going to die anyway, why not now?"  
  
"As usual, you are a tower of strength!"  
  
Noranti and Stark were busy helping Chiana through the passages of Moya, one at either side of her, arm slung over shoulders. Rygel was covering the rear, although Noranti doubted he'd do a very good job at it. They were on their way to Pilot's Chamber, and Pilot would try and seal them in. As soon as Moya's vital systems were fixed by the DRDs, the DRDs would track down the intruders as best they could, or at the very least supply backup.  
  
"How far left?" Chiana said, her head trying to gaze every which way but the right way.  
  
"Not long not long not long not long not long..." Stark muttered.  
  
"What are we going to do about D'Argo?"  
  
"Nothing we can do at the moment." Noranti replied. "When he gets back, he'll be able to get through those creatures, whatever they are."  
  
"Now who's being the hopeful one?"  
  
Noranti was just about to giggle at this when they rounded a corner, and came face to face with a large creature wearing some bizarre battle robes and a very odd haircut. It charged, and the threesome hurriedly turned and went in the opposite direction.  
  
All apart from Rygel, who was looking the other way, trying to guard them from behind. He was cast into the air off his thronesled, spinning, but found himself suddenly caught by the jaws of a clawed instrument the creature was carrying.  
  
Fortunately Rygel, being obviously small, was too small for the sharp, jagged parts of the jaws, so he slipped into the part between them and the hinge, where he was squeezed.  
  
The creature had a manic, almost zealous look on his face as he squeezed Rygel, hoping he would kill the Hynerian. Rygel groaned in pain as Noranti and Stark watched, and Chiana tried to, until suddenly a rumbling could be heard.  
  
The creature stopped squeezing and sniffed gingerly at the air. "Could it be?" he said, his voice suddenly very squeaky. "Chemical weapons?"  
  
The creature sniffed the air, and suddenly dropped his claw device, which Rygel instantly slipped out of. "Poison!" the creature screamed as it ran off into the depths of Moya. "Biological poison!" The creature was eventually tripped over by a DRD and knocked himself out.  
  
The four crew members stared blankly for a moment, before Stark finally broke the silence. "Well done Rygel!" he congratulated the Hynerian, who was regaining his rogue Thronesled. "One down!"  
  
"Ugh..." Rygel moaned. "If that's the only way to get rid of them, I don't think I can manage another just yet..."  
  
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-  
  
"So now it's unconscious?" a weary Pilot asked Noranti. They had managed to get to Pilot's Chamber without incident after facing the creature.  
  
"Indeed so Pilot." Noranti replied. "Though something is bothering me. This planet is over ninety-nine percent ocean, with the only land being tiny outcroppings not big enough even for a small village. Yet that creature was definitely adapted to living on solid land."  
  
Stark, sitting close to Chiana, looked around. All around the Chamber and the shaft through the very core of Moya, sparks flew, illuminating the room as DRDs repaired and maintained the links and roots between Pilot and Moya, until Moya could do the job herself.  
  
Suddenly there was a loud bang at the sealed door to the chamber, reverberating. The crew stayed silent, and there was another.  
  
"Oh, how I hope that's D'Argo..." Rygel said quietly.  
  
The door was suddenly shot off it's two hinges, and the shape caused it to fly onto the narrow bridge between the doorway and the core, and then fall into the pit below.  
  
At the door stood another one of the creatures, claw device held at it's side, and a determined look on the face.  
  
"Invaders," it said, it's voice sounding very nasal, "we have come to liberate this magnificent creature from your debasing ways. You will pay with your lives."  
  
"What are you talking about?" Rygel spoke up. "Moya is a companion to us, and our home."  
  
"Your home, but not your friend." the creature said again. "Commandeered for your use, of course. We will not listen to your lies, and the Leviathan and Pilot shall be freed from your tyranny."  
  
Pilot managed a few words. "This... is a mistake..." he said. "These people... are our friends..."  
  
"Brainwashing!" the creature roared as it advanced towards them. "The invaders have used their superior technology to brainwash you, oh gentle Pilot!"  
  
A new voice was then heard, booming in a commanding tembre. "Turn!"  
  
The creature turned, seeing a large, imposing figure at the doorway, wearing red robes, tentacles, facial hair, and carrying an ancient weapon at it's side.  
  
"My name is Ka D'Argo, captain of this Leviathan, Moya." D'Argo growled.  
  
The creature responded in kind. "Our name is Nas, Soldier of the Sedum." it said. "We are here to liberate this Leviathan from you invaders."  
  
"Over my dead body..."  
  
"If that is your wish, then we will oblige."  
  
The two combatants charged towards each other, weapons raised, and clashed. Their weapons locked together as they fought on the narrow bridge, light dancing in the semi-darkness from DRDs still continuing their work, sparks falling onto the surface of the bridge and then fizzling out.  
  
Eventually Nas won and pushed D'Argo back, then opened his claw weapon and lunged at D'Argo's head. D'Argo recovered himself and swung downwards, hitting the feet of his opponent.  
  
Nas fell onto his back, but instantly used his feet to kick D'Argo in the gut. D'Argo doubled over in pain, while Nas jumped up without using his hands, grasped his claw device and squeezed D'Argo's head with it.  
  
D'Argo could not think of anything he could do. The jaws were clamped around his head and squeezing him into submission, when he remembered he still had his Qualta Blade in his right hand. He swung the blade at the narrow yet tense rods holding the jaws.  
  
It went right through them.  
  
Nas stood terrified as his claw weapon fell to pieces on the bridge, then fell unconscious as D'Argo's tongue struck his exposed neck.  
  
D'Argo managed to stride over the body, walking to Chiana, a look of guilt on his face. Yet when he sat next to her, all she could do was put her arms around him.  
  
"You're back..." she said. "I knew you would be..."  
  
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Yadda-yadda-yadda, what'cha reckon, please read and review, visit www.savefarscape.com, check back for updates, winners don't do drugs. 


	8. A Matter Of Trust

5.01 - The Fearing Mind  
  
Chapter 8 - A Matter of Trust  
  
(24/6/04)  
  
=========  
  
Ho-hum, here's another chapter. Once again, just in case all you eager-beaver lawyers missed it the first time round, I don't own Farscape or any of it's characters. Wish I did. Then bloody Skiffy would pay as I whore the show to every other network! Huzzah!  
  
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Chapter 8 - A Matter of Trust  
  
----------------------------------  
  
"The two soldiers we sent to cleanse the Leviathan have not reported back in as they were ordered." Vwert said, striding into the room with John.  
  
John was looking around as he was lead through this area of the colony. He had seen only another two or three Sedum, the inhabitants probably living elsewhere inside the colony. The walls looked to be made of a metal alloy, pearly-silver in colour, and there were long windows along the walls to allow people to view the ocean bed landscape. Floors were made of metal grating a couple of inches above the bottom of the tubular pipes that made up the corridors, and many high-pressured doors along the corridors gave the implication that, if part of a corridor was damaged, the rest of the colony would be quickly and easily sealed.  
  
John turned his attention back to Vwert. "So? You want me to do something about it?"  
  
"What we want from you is wormholes. You know the consequences."  
  
Looking out the windows, John could see other passages in the distance. It seemed this, the bottom of the colony, was a ring, with four passages, each at ninety degrees of the other, leading into the centre. At the moment he and Vwert were walking towards the centre.  
  
Vwert held out a hand to what appeared to be a palm lock by a door. As the Sedum pressed his palm against the surface, several thin probes shot out of the rim of the lock. Some applied pressure to his hand, his wrist. One or two cut the skin in calculated places, calculated precision so very little blood would be lost, and sucked in a little bit of the creature's blood. One other applied itself to his pulse and monitored it for a few microts.  
  
Satisfied, the machinery withdrew itself, and the surface of the lock glowed green. The door opened.  
  
"Now let us show you our mastery of energy." Vwert boasted, inviting John through the door.  
  
John found himself in a huge, imposing room shaped like a dome. In the centre, about ten metres in the air, a large, metallic cylinder with engraved markings floated, bobbing slightly, and rotating at a slow speed. It emmitted constant bolts of blue energy towards the walls, exactly at the height of its centre, lighting the walls and all surfaces. When the bolts hit the walls, they were diverted upwards to the top of the dome where they all met. A small portion came back down to the cylinder, while the rest, John assumed, was used to power the colony.  
  
"Magnificent, isn't it?" Vwert said.  
  
"Something like that."  
  
"Here is the perfect energy amplifier and storage unit. The cylinder was created with enough energy to last thousands of cycles, and powers the entire colony. Yet we give it a small amount back and it amplifies the energy itself! Surely a work of genius."  
  
John turned to Vwert, reeling from the possibilities. Such a device would be able to power Earth perpetually, never mind a small colony. A clean source of indefinite power.  
  
But would it have the amount of energy to create an impact on a cosmic scale? Would it be able to generate wormholes?  
  
As if sensing his question, Vwert responded. "Records from this device's inception state that prototypes had enough power that, if used destructively, would be capable of wiping out a star system, creating a gravitational vortex, or more rather a black hole, in it's wake. Certainly enough to create a wormhole."  
  
"Create one, maybe." John said. "But you've still gotta direct it."  
  
"That's where you come in. We know you have the knowledge. And we have one you care about, and your child."  
  
John mulled for a bit. He could still try and get out of this. He could lead the Sedum the wrong way. But it would have to be something different. He'd have to plan ahead. He could sabotage the wormhole work, but it would have to be something that would only be apparent when it was used, by which time hopefully he and Aeryn would be on their way. Otherwise they'd be killed.  
  
But would Moya hold out until then? John knew they'd sent one team of soldiers up. What if they sent more? It was quite probable they'd do so before Moya was ready to leave, and John had to stop that from happening. He didn't care if he or Aeryn made it back to Moya, just so long as everyone was safe.  
  
"Okay, I'll cut you a deal." John said. "I'll give you wormholes, for Aeryn and the kid."  
  
"We had agreed that earlier." Vwert said, impatient.  
  
"AND... the others on the Leviathan. They must be left alone to do as they wish."  
  
"I don't have the moral right to make that decision."  
  
"Well I can just as easily not tell you a damn thing." John said. "You won't kill me. Then we'll all be stuck down here, and you don't gain a damn thing."  
  
"But we will kill the female invader, and the fetus in the process." Vwert said.  
  
"No. You want wormholes enough. You'll keep them alive."  
  
Vwert sighed. "You are most likely correct, invader."  
  
"Then we have a deal?"  
  
Vwert resigned himself. "Yes. We have a bond of trust, invader John Crichton."  
  
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Probably my worst chapter yet. Please don't read and review that one! I hated it! Read and review another chapter! And visit www.savefarscape.com - it'll save the show, and the new stuff they come up with will be better than mine, and it'll be on TV! 


	9. Baby Names

5.01 - The Fearing Mind  
  
Chapter 9 - Baby Names  
  
(7/6/03)  
  
=========  
  
Talk about writer's block! Anyway, here we go with the ninth chapter, and I don't own Farscape and all that lot. Well, I own some Farscape merchandise, but not the rights to reproduce it. I own a Rygel figure, a load of trading cards, some videos, DVDs, books, magazines, bookmarks, and even the video game. So nerr!  
  
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Chapter 9 - Baby Names  
  
----------------------------------  
  
Aeryn's mind stirred, emerging from it's pool of unconsciousness. Dutifully, probably down to her Peacekeeper training and also sharing some self-organising traits from her Pilot DNA, Aeryn thought through a series of checks over her mind and body.  
  
She sensed she was in restraints, however she could still move her limbs against them, though not much. She could move her fingers, toes and neck freely.  
  
Instantly, she thought of where she had last been. Her mind was a moment remembering, but then it recalled her being on a small boat with John in the middle of a seemingly endless ocean.  
  
She had never been happier.  
  
But that was not helping the current situation. Her Peacekeeper training forced her to focus on the matter in hand rather than wallow in memories, no matter how recent. Find out the problem, and work towards a solution!  
  
A ship. She could not tell which species had created it, either because her mind was too hazy or simply because she didn't recognise it from anywhere.  
  
Either way, she remembered, it had sent D'Argo into a panic, and he had shouted at the comms for them to come inside.  
  
And then her emotions had betrayed herself. John didn't think there was a way back into Moya in time, and Aeryn had submitted instead of carrying on trying.  
  
Stupid emotions.  
  
Worthless emotions!  
  
Aeryn didn't regret a moment of it.  
  
And then it all went black.  
  
But now - now was a different matter.  
  
Aeryn quickly opened her eyes, then immediately closed them again in case she was being monitored. She knew she almost certainly was.  
  
Immediately when she opened them, light flooded through, burning itself into her vision. When she closed them, there was a fading screen of orange against her eyelids as the light ebbed away.  
  
But from what she had seen, Aeryn knew she was in a room, with what appeared to be grey, featureless walls, floors and ceiling.  
  
Didn't seem like Peacekeeper, or Scarren. What else was there?  
  
Nebari? Though little was known of the Nebari race, the ship that overflew them was not a Nebari vessel she had seen before - though she had only seen two. Charrid? They'd be using Scarren ships anyway.  
  
But then who? Who were they, and how did she fight them?  
  
But then possibly more importantly, how were John and her baby? Aeryn nearly chastised her Peacekeeper training for making her focus more on the situation than those she cared about.  
  
Finally, she risked opening her eyes and making herself known. Whoever had captured her could have killed her already, so Aeryn decided they must want her alive.  
  
She hoped that was the case, anyway.  
  
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-  
  
John was in the room containing the energy amplifier when he heard the news.  
  
The Sedum, or more particularly Vwert since he was the only one John had seen, had given him a precious few pieces of a papery parchment, stating that it was created from the precious few scraps of material left on the small outcroppings of what was previously mountains, their peaks jutting out above the water level. To write with, a thin metal cylinder with a small point seemingly attached to the end to act as a nib. Apparently the substance used to write with seemed identical to ink in all intents and purposes, and even came from a small fifteen-armed squid. Except that the ink stank to high heaven of cheese. John thought to himself that either the Sedum didn't have very effective noses, or didn't care.  
  
Harvey had been quiet, and John sensed he was trying his hand at something, possibly trying to think of a way John could escape all this, or possibly even answer another question John had been pondering.  
  
What had the Peacekeepers been doing out here in Tormented Space anyway? And why weren't they here any more?  
  
And did Aeryn know? Just before entering Tormented Space, she said things there would be no better than in the Uncharted Territories. Was it just rumours she had heard, or something more?  
  
But John had to focus on the task in hand. Escape the Sedum. The only way he could see to that was blowing them all up on his way out. How to do that? Try and give them wormhole equations, but with one flaw built in so that they'd blow up at the last minute.  
  
Problem is, John had no idea how to do that.  
  
"Invader John Crichton." Vwert interrupted his train of thought. John looked over a frown on his face for the creature having disturbed his work, even though he had done none yet.  
  
Vwert looked over his shoulder at the parchment, then spoke again. "The female invader is conscious."  
  
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-  
  
"Hey baby, how ya doing?" John arrived by Aeryn's side, the woman still restrained.  
  
"John..." she gasped, still weary. "What... what's happening..."  
  
John knelt by her side, his right hand going through her thick hair. "Don't you worry baby, I'm gonna make everything okay."  
  
"John..." Aeryn said, fighting the urge to sleep. "Our baby... is it..."  
  
Vwert spoke up from over John's shoulder. "The infant is fine and developing well."  
  
Aeryn sighed. She looked at Vwert. "I don't know whether I should be thanking or cursing you." she managed. "Who are you?"  
  
"We are Vwert of the Sedum." Vwert simply replied. "We apologise for the restraints. John Crichton is helping us with an important matter. Our business will be concluded in a short time, after which you may rejoin your crew aboard the Leviathan."  
  
Aeryn looked over at John. "Is he telling the truth?" she asked, to which John nodded. "Well, it's a lot better than most of the scrapes we've been in." she said, relieved.  
  
Vwert coughed nervously. "I shall leave you two alone for a short time." he said. "You are still being monitored." At this he turned and left through the door.  
  
"John..." Aeryn said, a smile on her face, "is it true? That you're just helping them with something, and then we can go?"  
  
John smiled. "Yeah baby, it's true." But in his mind he was screaming at himself. He knew he should tell Aeryn about the Peacekeeper involvement, the attack on Moya, that he had to give the Sedum the ability to direct wormholes.  
  
But he couldn't. Not now.  
  
Aeryn giggled. "I can't wait until we're out of here." she said. "We can start a new life somewhere, and Peacekeepers and Scarrens will be none of our concern. You, me, possibly the others nearby if they want, and the baby..."  
  
"Our baby..." John said whimsically. "Crichton's kid."  
  
Aeryn looked over at him, a mocked serious expression on her face. "And Aeryn's."  
  
"And Aeryn's." John said. "Hey, what do you think for names?"  
  
Aeryn sighed contently. "Names, names, names... Sebacean tradition is that, if you can't think of a good name yourself, you should name a child after those who've made an impact in your lives."  
  
"Yeah, we say the same sorta thing on Earth." John replied. "So, what do you reckon for a girl?"  
  
"I liked the name of your mother, Olivia."  
  
"What about Olivia Zhaan?"  
  
Aeryn stared at him for a moment, confused. "Olivia Zhaan?" she said. "It wouldn't be Zhaan's child, John."  
  
"No, how about Zhaan for a middle name?" he said, to which Aeryn just stared blankly. "You guys don't have middle names, do ya? No, just first and last."  
  
"Oh, I get it now!" Aeryn said, smiling. "Yes, maybe Olivia Zhaan if it's a girl. What if it's a boy?"  
  
"Hmm..." John thought. "We couldn't really call him after any of the guys we know, 'cos otherwise we'd keep getting confused. How about Jack?"  
  
Aeryn had obviously been thinking the same thing about fathers. "Jack Talyn Crichton." she said aloud, quite happy. "I like that."  
  
A cough came from behind John, and he turned to see Vwert had rejoined them. "I'm afraid that John Crichton must leave for a short time." he said. "But he will be able to visit regularly. In the meantime, you shall have assisstants brought to you to cater for your needs, and to accompany you on walks around the complex."  
  
"Thank you." Aeryn said politely, before turning to John. "See you later."  
  
"Yeah, see ya in a bit." John said, before planting a quick kiss on her lips, then leaving the room with Vwert.  
  
Once outside the room, he turned to Vwert. "Hey, thanks for leaving us for a moment there, and for all you're doing for her."  
  
"Think nothing of it." Vwert replied. "I may not belong to your species, but I can tell when one is in the throes of love."  
  
"Yeah, but you could have imprisoned her, threatened to kill her or the baby. Instead Aeryn's going to be treated well."  
  
"So that is her name..." Vwert said. "We had not probed her mind, and with the information from yours it is not necessary. Aeryn..."  
  
"Yeah..." John said, gratitude clearly in his voice. "But... thanks for not killing us."  
  
"We are not monsters, John Crichton." Vwert said. "We are civilized people. We do not kill needlessly."  
  
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Yep, I had major writer's block at the beginning of writing this chapter (hope it doesn't show) but thought "where the hell's Aeryn in all this?". Those of you who've read the short story "Horizons" by Rockne S O'Bannon (one of the main creators and producers of Farscape) which is set 300 years after the events so far witnessed in Farscape may spot a reference to John and Aeryn's kid. Anyway, please read and review, and visit www.savefarscape.com and, if you really want, my site at www.geocities.com/pilotschamber 


	10. The Art Of Diplomacy

5.01 - The Fearing Mind  
  
Chapter 10 - The Art Of Diplomacy  
  
(15/6/03)  
  
=========  
  
Well, it's been over a week, and I do want to get to the good bits of this virtual season 5 fan-fic series (trust me, there are good bits!). Once again, I do not own Farscape, it's likeness or characters and whatnot. Now that that's out of the way...  
  
Oh yes, and I'm going to start a little plot-thread here that will continue throughout the season and hopefully tie up some things from season three and four. See if you can spot it...  
  
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Chapter 10 - The Art Of Diplimacy  
  
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"Let us out of here, invaders!" Nas shouted, pounding his body against the metal bars of the prison doors that had been added to Moya, when she was once a prisoner transport vessel. "You will pay for your desecration!"  
  
D'Argo merely watched on. Scorpius had been able to break out of these makeshift prisons, and he wasn't taking any chances. He had experienced how powerful these creatures, these Sedum, were.  
  
Rygel had checked this cell thoroughly - he had always been the one to find ways out, even in Peacekeeper confinement. Best to have the experienced perform the job. After that, Rygel, Noranti and even Stark had gone to a nearby chamber to discuss tactics, how to combat any more of these Sedum if they arrived, and whether these creatures held any information about John and Aeryn's fate. And if they did, should they stay and try and find their friends, or was it too risky?  
  
As captain, D'Argo was kept up to date with the meeting by a constant holo-projection provided by Elack's DRD, which Crichton had oddly nicknamed Eighteentwelve. Pilot, still recovering, would also be listening in. They could all provide input if necessary, yet D'Argo continued his guard.  
  
Best to have the experienced perform the job.  
  
As for the blind Chiana? She had never left D'Argo's side. They were both sitting on the floor, Chiana resting her head on D'Argo's shoulder.  
  
Inside the cell, the one called Nas went back to the side of the other. They had both awakened and immediately demanded release. D'Argo knew from experience that that never worked.  
  
"Ert, we have to think of a way out of this confinement." Nas said, his face splitting open. D'Argo had seen Nas do that once or twice before, and had no idea what it meant.  
  
"We agree." Ert said. "However, our sacred mission comes before our freedom. The pure soul of the innocent is worth more than the soiled soul of a soldier."  
  
"Indeed, yet we must free ourselves to free her."  
  
"We can offer no information to the invaders. Doing such a thing would fail our mission and our people."  
  
"Then the only thing we can do is persevere."  
  
And with that, both Nas and Ert rammed themselves against the bars, again trying to escape, and shouting insults and threats with a religious fervour.  
  
After a while, D'Argo became accustomed to watching their futile exercise.  
  
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-  
  
In the meeting room just up the corridor, the three of them could still hear the clanging of the doors as the two Sedum captives tried to force their way through, with no result.  
  
"Right, so far we have no idea as to whether John and Aeryn are dead." Noranti stated for about the tenth time.  
  
"I saw them." Rygel said. "I was with D'Argo and Chiana. They were shot, and turned into those pebbles. You can't bring them back from pebbles!"  
  
Noranti sighed. "DRDs have checked the craft those two Sedum came aboard in. It had a most peculiar weapon, requiring a large amount of energy and capable of bending space on a quantum scale."  
  
Stark fidgeted. "So this weapon could be capable of transporting matter?"  
  
"No." Noranti said, plainly. "Pilot has helped me with this, but I believe that they create a series of disruptions, possibly like a wormhole, only on a much smaller scale and with a pre-set destination."  
  
"So what are you saying?" Rygel asked. "John and Aeryn were sucked away by loads of tiny wormholes?"  
  
"Yes." Noranti said. "That would explain the pebbles. Each pebble represents a wormhole, the gravity and atmospheric pressures causing a mass of other matter to gravitate towards it and stick together. Of course, John and Aeryn were in the middle and would have been sucked in."  
  
"So where are they?" Stark said.  
  
Noranti scratched her forehead, or more rather her third eye. "I don't quite know." she said. "These people have the ability to create wormholes, yet the power indicates that another exit wormhole would have to have been created, so the wormholes could gravitate and link to each other. Natural wormholes in space, John once said, are part of a series, or a network."  
  
"Yes, but Crichton also mentioned other realities, unrealized realities, remember?" Rygel said. "We were there! Earth, when he was a youth?"  
  
"But any other unrealized reality may not have been activating a wormhole in the local vicinity at that time." Noranti said. "It may be possible that they're still on this planet, possibly in the local area."  
  
"But how would we find them?" Rygel said. "This planet is all water!"  
  
"Speaking of which..." Stark said, "We have not discussed whether to stay or leave when Moya recovers."  
  
"That is something for our captain to decide..." Noranti said, looking worried about D'Argo's condition. He had been quite silent since returning.  
  
"And what do we do about our captives?" Rygel said darkly. "Interrogate them, threaten them?"  
  
"Threats will get you nowhere." Noranti commented. "They are religious zealots. If we threatened them with death, they would not budge, happy with the knowledge they will go to paradise when they die. Of course, when they did die and discovered death was nothing like they imagined, they'd be begging to return. By which point it would be too late..."  
  
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Yep, time to play "spot the loose plot twist"!!! I hope you didn't spot it, it's gonna be fun building it up (cue evil laugh). I wanted to try and explain my theory on the physics behind John and Aeryn being captured, but know I probably didn't succeed. Anyhow, please read and review, and if you want to save Farscape and get a fifth season produced (which would be at least ten times better than mine, and it'd be on TV and all too!) head on over to www.savefarscape.com 


	11. With Or Without

5.01 - The Fearing Mind  
  
Chapter 11 - With Or Without  
  
(29/7/03)  
  
=========  
  
Now it's officially been too long for an update, though I have been working on what will happen in this virtual season. Everybody's got a role - John, Aeryn, D'Argo, Chiana, Noranti, Moya and Pilot, Scorpius, Braca, Sikozu, even Grayza. All apart from Rygel and Stark. Heck, I'm gonna chuck in a new character as well (though a very minor one) and I'm bringing back a few. Enjoy.  
  
By the way, blah de blah, I do not own Farscape. At all. Sorry.  
  
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Chapter 11 - With Or Without  
  
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Workroom. Long hours. Boredom.  
  
Just like being back on Earth really.  
  
John was sat at a worksurface in the power cell room, the pen-like instrument making marks on the paper material the Sedum had given him to work on.  
  
They knew. They knew how to make a wormhole, John thought. They have the basic equations, and mine would only tie up the loose ends and allow them to direct it.  
  
And he had to stop it, while also seemingly making it work.  
  
Not good.  
  
Kinda like a guy trying to sabotage a car by building a faulty steering wheel.  
  
In any case, it had to be done.  
  
John looked over the wormhole calculations, pored over them. It was all he ever dreamed about now - wormhole calculations and Aeryn. He had finally found his niche in life, and it sucked.  
  
Well, apart from Aeryn.  
  
John smirked at how that could be taken the wrong way, then set his mind back to work.  
  
He had also been given technical briefings about the power cell - that would be his best opportunity to make something go wrong. He couldn't put something wrong in the equations - the Sedum wouldn't take any chances. They'd have to direct the wormhole towards a new home before they risked the journey.  
  
There would only be a window of opportunity for a few minutes, John thought. As soon as the wormhole was directed at a new home, the colony would take off to the wormhole in orbit.  
  
Then it would be a case of re-directing the wormhole IN TRANSIT, but it would have to be delayed. John and Aeryn would somehow have to make it out while the colony was still within the planet's atmosphere.  
  
John had already worked out how the wormhole could be directed. Based on what Aeryn, Rygel and Stark (well, not Stark) had told him over the past cycle about the other Crichton, John had discovered a way to create a form of displacement filter, much like the displacement engine the other Crichton had used at Dam-Ba-Da.  
  
The colony would output rays of energy from four points, in a north-south-east-west arrangement. By using his displacement filters, the rays would be ionized with the correct particles in order to direct the wormhole as was seen fit, different strengths of the rays disrupting and bending wormhole space.  
  
Then what?  
  
Could John build something into the displacement filters? Use a material which would give way quick enough to cause one to stop working correctly and hinder the wormhole direction?  
  
Hopefully it would work.  
  
Hope.  
  
Why did everything have to hinge on it? And why was there so little left?  
  
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-  
  
"I never envisioned anything like this." Aeryn said. She was being led around a few small areas of the colony by Vwert, still unsure whether these people - these Sedum - were her captors or not.  
  
Now they were looking out at the ocean floor through a transparent surface that seemed to run the length of the corridor.  
  
Aeryn had never seen anything like it in all her cycles as a Peacekeeper, nor in the almost four cycles on Moya.  
  
She watched, guiding her vision along a rocky ridge that veered upwards and downwards erratically, like a small mountainous terrain. In it, tiny plants in their mating season used electric impulses to create tiny light shows, red and blue lights glowing and fading. Several small fish swam by in a school, creating a shape of a much larger creature, a family.  
  
"It must be quite different than the military surroundings of Peacekeeper service." Vwert commented.  
  
"Yes." Aeryn replied. "All that conformity, all that familiarity... yet out here there is so much standing out, so much that is unique."  
  
Aeryn thought of how far she had come since her Peacekeeper days, her life of not questioning, not resisting, just following orders. Chiana had said it best when she said that Peacekeeper High Command had told her where to fight and where to die.  
  
"I have a question." she ventured. "Do you know what has happened to Moya, the Leviathan we arrived aboard?"  
  
Vwert seemed resigned. "We attempted to liberate this Moya from you invaders, but John Crichton insisted otherwise. She still remains on the surface of the water."  
  
"Liberate?" Aeryn mulled the word over. "What do you mean?"  
  
"Leviathans are a magnificent breed." Vwert said. "They should be free, not perverted by the likes of you."  
  
Aeryn put her hands on her hips, quite taken aback at what the Sedum had said. "Perverted?" she said, insulted. "Has Crichton not told you? Moya was once a Peacekeeper prison transport, but since then she has been freed from Peacekeeper oppression. We now serve each other willingly."  
  
"So John Crichton has said, and now you say. I must admit, I am beginning to believe what you say, Aeryn Sun. Yet the crimes of your species cause me to judge you in a harsher light."  
  
Aeryn's mind reeled. The Peacekeepers had come here in their first expansions into Tormented Space? She thought that time had been just a myth, spread to create fear in people trying to fly through the Uncharted Territories into Scarren space.  
  
But, as she had found out, Tormented Space did indeed exist.  
  
And now she knew the Peacekeepers had definitely been here before, trying to make some long-term projects out here at the dawn of the major conflict between themselves and the Scarrens.  
  
She had no come-back to the Sedum, for she knew he was right.  
  
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-  
  
Yet another bad chapter, in my opinion, but I am trying to gear up for the end of the episode. I dunno, must be writer's block. In any case, if you want to help save the series and get a better season 5, head on over to www.savefarscape.com 


	12. Brothers In Arms

5.01 - The Fearing Mind  
  
Chapter 12 - Brothers In Arms  
  
(15/8/03)  
  
=========  
  
I really should update this more often. I have the main arc of this virtual season planned - just you wait to see what happens (evil laugh).  
  
Anyway, I do not own Farscape, any of the characters or whatnot portrayed within, and all situations, conversations and so on are purely fictitious, and any resemblance to any persons living or dead is purely coincidental. And if you do lead a life like Crichton's you have my utmost sympathy :D  
  
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Chapter 11 - Brothers In Arms  
  
----------------------------------  
  
"Stark, hurry up!" D'Argo yelled at the ex-Bannik slave. "We haven't got all day!"  
  
A tired, troubled Stark emerged through the doorway into Moya's hangar, clearly stressed over the impetuous Luxan. "What makes you think we can pilot that thing? And that we'll find anything anyway?"  
  
"Noranti's theory."  
  
"You weren't even there!"  
  
"Crichton's beloved Eighteentwelve kept me up to date."  
  
"And what about piloting the craft?"  
  
D'Argo sighed. "I've looked inside it - seems to be a pretty familiar system."  
  
"But... but why ME?"  
  
"You came up with the plan to save my son from the Shadow Depository." D'Argo said. "And I saw you fight at the Gammak Base. I know you have at least some mivonks."  
  
D'Argo strode over to the Sedum craft, the sleek black shape pulled back like a cloak left by Nas and Ert, Stark following him.  
  
"Besides..." D'Argo said, a smile on his face. "We have a few arns before Moya is recovered fully to move herself. We may as well see if our new ship is useful."  
  
"You're using that as an excuse?!?"  
  
"To Chiana, yes." D'Argo replied. "You know she wouldn't let me go otherwise."  
  
"But really we're going to see if we can find where it came from, hmm?"  
  
"Well D'UH!!!" D'Argo said, using an Earth expression he had heard numerous times on Crichton's home world. He still wasn't sure what it meant.  
  
The two of them entered the craft, the odd blue setting inside. "Here." D'Argo said, passing Stark a weapon. "Pulse rifle, fully charged."  
  
"Good, good..."  
  
Next, D'Argo passed two small spheres. "Noranti whipped this up - full of a gas which will knock out any species, EXCEPT for Luxans and Stykera."  
  
"That includes John and Aeryn, right?"  
  
"If we find them. And lastly, the goggles to see in the dark."  
  
D'Argo passed one to Stark, who looked at it feebly. "It only fits over one eye, and I'm missing that one!"  
  
D'Argo just looked blankly. "Oh, erm... sorry?"  
  
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=  
  
The craft flew smoothly out of Moya's open hatch - slightly bobbing thanks to D'Argo's inexperience.  
  
"You're clear of Moya now." Pilot commed in, still in pains from the separation from Moya. "Good luck with the test flight, captain D'Argo."  
  
"Thank you Pilot." D'Argo said, closing the comms. "Now..." he said, looking over to Stark. "Let's see what this thing can do."  
  
D'Argo pushed forward on both the sticks the ship seemed to use for piloting, and the craft suddenly accelerated to dizzying levels. The roar of the engines behind them was deafening, while G-forces pushed both members of the crew back into their seats.  
  
"How far away from Moya are we?" D'Argo said against the strain after a moment.  
  
"At least two thousand metras." Stark replied.  
  
"Good. Then they won't see us do this." D'Argo said, quickly checking his restraint harness. "Fasten yourself in."  
  
"Erm..." Stark said, feeling for his, but couldn't find it. "Why?"  
  
He looked forward to see D'Argo was diving the ship straight down into the water. "D'Argo! You're going to kill us!" he shouted, fumbling for his seatbelt even more. "D'Argo!!!"  
  
The ship plunged under the water, and the sudden deceleration caused D'Argo to fly forward, but his restraint harness kept him in his seat.  
  
Stark, on the other hand, flew into the protective glass portal, his head threatening to crack it, then slid down.  
  
"That went about as well as planned." D'Argo said, as Stark feebly regained himself and got back into his seat.  
  
"We're still alive... still alive..." Stark kept mumbling. "And the ship has not succumbed to the water."  
  
"I noticed it was wet when on Moya." D'Argo said. "This whole planet is covered with ocean, which makes me think it came from UNDER it. There!"  
  
"What?" Stark asked, noticing that D'Argo was pointing at a display on the control console. There, he saw a dot in the centre, which he presumed was the ship, and underneath a much larger body. "What's that?"  
  
"Only one way to find out..." D'Argo said, accelerating the ship.  
  
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-  
  
Ho-hum. I really need to finish this story off so I can get onto the better ones I have planned. As usual, check out www.savefarscape.com 


	13. Crux Point

5.01 - The Fearing Mind  
  
Chapter 13 - Crux Point  
  
(08/11/03)  
  
=========  
  
Hey, maybe I'll get this episode finished before the end of the year! I really should do writing more often, it helps me get away from uni work.  
  
Many thanks to those who have reviewed, of course, and I do not own Farscape and all that lot. Unfortunately. People who actually have sense do (well, some of them).  
  
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-  
  
Chapter 13 - Crux Point  
  
----------------------------------  
  
"Ladies and gentlemen..." John began in the chamber housing the power core, addressing the audience. "Well, I use the term loosely... y'know, with all the different species I've come across, I find it difficult to distinguish sometimes between guys and gals."  
  
John was standing near the centre of the chamber, under the floating power core, with nearly all the Sedum in the colony around him.  
  
In his hands were four thin sheets of material, dusty orange in colour and all giving off an amount of static. John was wearing a provided set of gloves just to hold them without severely doing damage to his hands.  
  
"Anyway, on with the show..." he said, looking nervously around for a laugh. "I give you, the four secrets of the universe that will allow you to leap galaxies, travel faster than light and provide on-time rail service... displacement filters!"  
  
The audience clapped in mock appreciation. John was pretty glad of the job he did - knowing what Furlow and the other Crichton had done had provided the catalyst, but the wormhole equations he had unlocked in his mind had done the most work. Directing a radiation wave through the filters would adjust the wavelength to something that could actually push and bend wormholes, directing where the destination would be.  
  
He was also quite pleased at the in-built sabotage. One of the filters was made of slightly inferior material. While the other three would function well, the other would break down under the radiation, and after probably about a minute disintegrate.  
  
The Sedum seemed to enjoy the rushed job - they wanted to be away as soon as possible, find a new home and settle down. It seemed they had prepared for this eventuality for a good long time.  
  
Vwert came forward to remove the filters from John with his own gloved hand, but John suddenly pulled them away and whispered in the Sedum's ear.  
  
"I want to be with Aeryn when we make the trip. I want a ship off here, so I can be with the rest of my friends on the Leviathan."  
  
Vwert seemingly growled, as if he was suppressing a small amount of rage. "That was not part of our agreement."  
  
"I'm changing the agreement." John said bluntly. "I have the supply, I make the demand. I will be with her, and we will be out of your hair."  
  
Vwert paused for a moment. "We have your equations in our datastores." he said. "We have your knowledge. However, we will wait until the wormhole bends before letting you go."  
  
"You have my equations?" John said in surprise. "You translated them?"  
  
"We have simply converted them into the base code, John Crichton, the symbols and icons that we have used for millenia."  
  
John thought. "Yeah, in my time away from my home I've seen it. Weird characters. Some of it looks a bit... Matrix-y..."  
  
"I have not heard of this... maytricksy, John Crichton." Vwert said thoughtfully. He seemed intent on answering all questions, though it was delaying their departure. "We use the standard Arnessk codes."  
  
John allowed the filters to be pulled away from him, as his face was left blank for a moment. "Arnessk?" he muttered. Images went through his mind - the planet Arnessk he had visited aboard Elack. The Darnez probes. The ruins. The visions he had seen, the sacrifices. The priests. The toy.  
  
And now a common language. No, not a language, a form of writing, of communication.  
  
Somehow the priests had created a peace between Peacekeepers and Scarrens. For a time, at least.  
  
And a link with Earth?  
  
Vwert's booming voice cut him out of his reverie. "We open a wormhole in under an arn!" he shouted, holding the filters high. "We shall fit these immediately and carve a path to our new home, where we shall grow and prosper!"  
  
The sound from the accumulated Sedum was deafening.  
  
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-  
  
Aeryn was lying down next to John on a flat, raised surface. It was comfortable, springy and had one long, tubular cushion at the end for them to rest their heads. The room itself was featureless, as was more or less everything in the colony, except for a window at the end opening to an expansive view of the underwater scenery.  
  
Both of them were unrestrained, and nobody was in there with them. John and Aeryn surmised that they had been given this room for a bit of "recreation" time before the Sedum would let them free.  
  
And as much as they both wanted to, they wouldn't. The plan had to work.  
  
John had whispered everything in Aeryn's ear. It was doubtless that they were being eavesdropped on. He had explained everything - the inferior filter, the getaway car... the only thing he hadn't mentioned was the possible link with Arnessk. No, he was going to ask Noranti that.  
  
"In any case..." he said, knowing that it didn't matter whether the Sedum heard this part or not, "we're going to get out of here and back to Moya, just as soon as these guys get on their way."  
  
Aeryn had been quite silent. She had been since John had told her of his plan.  
  
He leaned down and kissed her on the cheek. "What's up?"  
  
Just as Aeryn was about to speak they were interrupted by a loud rumbling. "Sounds like they're launching the generator." John said.  
  
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-  
  
From the centre of the colony, a large sphere emerged, a few metres in diameter. The silver metallic orb burst through the ocean at an incredible speed, through the surface and the atmosphere until it reached a few thousand miles away from the atmosphere into space.  
  
Then it exploded. Or more rather, imploded, at the same time glowing blue, letting blue bolts of energy fly.  
  
The power used created a vortex, pulling in mass and transforming it using the blue sparks into a tiny blue swirl.  
  
As more and more tiny particles from space added and were transformed, and as the swirl grew in size, it slowly took the form of something else.  
  
A wormhole.  
  
An artificial wormhole, generated from regular metals and energy, and automatically gravitating itself to link with the wormhole networks.  
  
Now the Sedum had the ability to travel through the wormhole, and if John's filter plates worked, they could travel anywhere in the universe by altering the wormhole network itself.  
  
John had to hope, for once, that a plan failed...  
  
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-  
  
Setting things up for a bit. Sorry it's late, but I do plan on getting more written. But at this rate it'll take ages to complete all the stories I plan on telling. Ho-hum - just have to try and write more. 


	14. Even Worse Timing

5.01 - The Fearing Mind  
  
Chapter 14 - Even Worse Timing  
  
(16/02/04)  
  
=========  
  
I've got a bit of spare time, let's see if I can do a decent chapter in half an hour (probably a no).  
  
By the way, all the legal stuff, I don't own Farscape or any of that lot. By the way, rumours persist that Farscape is coming back as a four hour mini-series, head on over to SaveFarscape (I'm not doing the URL 'cos there have been some problems at fanfiction with them, but you can probably guess it) for more info.  
  
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Chapter 14 - Even Worse Timing  
  
----------------------------------  
  
For once, Stark was being quiet, though D'Argo supposed that was because he was anxious. And nervous. And, well, everything else that Stark was.  
  
The Sedum ship carried on through the water, into the depths of the ocean. Light still penetrated through from the surface, making D'Argo think whether the water on the planet was really water or some other liquid closely resembling water. Fish and other aquatic life swam by, but D'Argo would pay little attention.  
  
He was more focussed on what was ahead.  
  
Rising over a cliff was an underwater installation, circular with a central dome, all linked together.  
  
And it was beginning to rise at a good rate, bubbles coming from its underside.  
  
D'Argo pulled the ship into a climb to follow.  
  
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-  
  
"Vwert, what the hell are you doing?" John shouted at the Sedum. "This was not part of the deal!"  
  
Vwert's head was open, the inner Vwert speaking. "Our arrangement, invader John Crichton, was that you and Aeryn Sun were to be set free. And you will."  
  
"We are not going through the blue twister to Kansas with you!"  
  
"As soon as we get to the surface, you will take your leave on an unarmed transport vessel." Vwert responded. "The co-ordinates of your Leviathan have been programmed in."  
  
John sighed. He hadn't counted on this. His filter plates could go between here and the surface, and he and Aeryn would still be aboard. "We'll be reaching the surface soon."  
  
"Then I had best show you and Aeryn Sun to your craft, and show you how to operate it."  
  
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-  
  
From the four corners of the colony, blue rays of light emmitted, travelling up into space. They touched the wormhole, then moved slightly to tweak where it was pointing.  
  
In a few moments, a planet with lush vegetation was seen through the wormhole.  
  
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-  
  
D'Argo continued piloting the craft upwards. It had taken them a minute or two, but he and Stark had caught up with the colony and had located what appeared to be a docking bay. Closed, of course. It would have to be for this sort of thing.  
  
But D'Argo didn't think it'd stand up to weapons fire from the ship.  
  
The colony broke the surface and rose slightly slower, impeded by the full weight of itself.  
  
D'Argo fired.  
  
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-  
  
John and Aeryn were in the hanger with Vwert, learning how to operate the transport craft the Sedum were providing them when the explosion tore through the airlock doors. Metal scattered everywhere, and the three of them ducked, shielding themselves.  
  
Within moments sirens started, red lights flashed. John wondered for a moment whether it was a universal thing with red lights and sirens.  
  
A moment later the explosion was over, only to be replaced by rushing air and wind as the hanger was exposed to the outside as it was rising.  
  
Outside a ship hung, ominous and black and deadly.  
  
John and Aeryn recognised it from earlier.  
  
"All ships are acounted for, bar the ships used in the attempt to board your Leviathan!" Vwert shouted over the rush of the air. "It can't be..."  
  
"You'd have thought your boys would have learnt to knock first!" John shouted.  
  
"Unless it's not them!" Aeryn surmised. "What if it's someone from Moya?"  
  
"D'Argo?" John decided D'Argo would be the only one reckless enough to try such a thing.  
  
Suddenly there was another explosion, but not from the hanger. This one came from the filter plate at the far side of the colony. It failed suddenly, creating a huge explosion.  
  
A few seconds later a large creaking noise could be heard. The explosion had caused a structural fault, and one corner of the colony was falling into the ocean.  
  
The colony swayed as it tried to stay in the air, unbalanced.  
  
"Oh frell." John muttered under his breath as he, Aeryn and Vwert struggled to keep their footing against guard rails. Outside, the ship backed and swayed nervously, unsure what to do. "Not now, not now..."  
  
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-  
  
Well, probably the worst chapter. Ho-hum. Still, quite good for twenty minutes/half an hour. 


End file.
